Sweet Tooth Dentistry – designed specifically with kids in mind

Heather Graves

Staff

January 9, 2024

WAUSAU – The goal of Sweet Tooth Dentistry, according to Owner/dentist Chelsea Zamudio, is to create positive dental experiences for children of all ages – from infants through teens.

As a pediatric-focused dental office, Sweet Tooth offers a wide range of services, from routine cleanings to more complex procedures, all tailored to meet the unique needs of each child. 

“I’ve never doubted for a second that I wanted to go into the pediatric specialty,” she said. “Kids are so much fun.”

From the West Coast to the Badger State

A transplant to Central Wisconsin from the West Coast, Chelsea said she was recruited to the area by a dental clinic in Marshfield looking to add a pediatric-specialized dentist to its team.

She attended dental school at the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco and completed her residency at the University of California School of Dentistry.

Though there are a variety of differences between California and Wisconsin, Chelsea said she immediately fell in love with the area and the people who call it home.

After working at the Dental Clinic of Marshfield for a couple of years, Chelsea said she began to recognize the lack of pediatric-specific dental offices in Central Wisconsin.

Wanting to change that, Chelsea decided to open her own clinic solely geared toward children.

Because of contract restrictions, opening a clinic in Marshfield wasn’t an option, so she said Wausau seemed like the next best fit.

“Wausau was the perfect place to start Sweet Tooth,” she said. “It’s centrally located so we can be accessible to Marshfield, Stevens Point, Tomahawk, etc. I love the community of small businesses we have connected with in Wausau. It’s a beautiful city filled with amazing families.”

Office Manager Brittany Zamudio said there is sometimes a misconception that pediatric dentists are “just dentists who are good with kids.”

“And while that’s true, pediatric dentists also do a few more years of education to specialize in pediatrics,” she said. “There is also specialized equipment. We also have hospital privileges at Marshfield Clinic and Aspirus for kiddos who need to be seen under general anesthesia.”

Patient-focused approach

Recognizing every child reacts to dental visits differently, Brittany said Sweet Tooth’s patient-focused approach sets the clinic and Dr. Chelsea apart.

“We want every visit to be an overall stress-free experience for everyone involved,” Brittany said. “A lot of parents come in and you can tell they’re on edge because they know their kid is going to freak out or be upset. But when they sit down in the parent waiting room – which has coffee and snacks and water – they can relax.”

Brittany said parents have the option of accompanying their children into the exam room or have them go back by themselves.

“Whatever they feel would be best for their kiddos,” she said. “We personalize every experience because every kid is different. Not all kids are going to react the same to treatment so, we personalize everything for them.”

Sweet Tooth – which has a “small, but mighty team” of five, including Chelsea, Brittany, two dental assistants and a receptionist – works at the pace of each patient.

“I think what makes us unique is the personalization,” Brittany said. “Dr. Chelsea remembers everyone who comes in.”

She said Chelsea has no desire to “go corporate” with the clinic.

“She doesn’t want to hire another doctor,” Brittany said. “She doesn’t want to get another location. She doesn’t want to have 14 staff members. She wants to keep it small, personable and be able to take care of those kiddos that need it.”

Chelsea said she is also on a continuous mission to change the way kids think about dentistry.

Brittany said some kids who come into Sweet Tooth for the first time are “absolutely terrified and hiding behind their parents.”

“But then, within a few minutes in the waiting room, they start playing, and then when Dr. Chelsea comes out to meet them and asks them a bunch of questions, you can tell they start to warm up,” she said.

Starting from scratch

The Sweet Tooth Dentistry clinic, Brittany said, started with a blank slate – a wide open office space Chelsea and her team designed and planned from scratch.

“We are on the second floor of the building – it was completely nothing, no floors, no walls, nothing,” she said. “So, we completely designed it from scratch.”

Brittany said Chelsea wanted to make the office candy-themed.

“Because there’s such a misconception of like, ‘oh kids can’t have candy because it gives you cavities,’” she said. “But she was like, ‘candy is fine, we’ll just make sure to brush afterward.’ She wanted the office to be colorful and modern.”

Entering the clinic, Brittany said the main waiting area is “about 90% toys.”

“We have a little bakery for the kids,” she said. “We have a play farm. We have a light-up table and some arcade games they can play. And that’s where you get checked in.”

Around the corner, Brittany said, is the parents waiting area, which includes the coffee bar, as well as the separate teen waiting area complete with phone chargers and a foosball table.

The clinic has two open-bay exam areas – one geared toward younger children and the other for teen patients – which have three chairs each where general cleaning and exams take place.

“You get your own personal TV in front of you, so you get to pick whatever you want to watch on whatever streaming service you like,” she said. “Then local artist Jason Humphrey from Out of The Blue Tattoo in Marshfield painted this big spray paint mural in our teen area, which is super awesome.”

Procedures, Brittany said, are done in the office’s private treatment room.

The clinic also has a nursery space, which she said is geared toward infant patients.

“We do baby exams,” she said. “The room has lots of squishies, a big floor mat, a rocking chair, diapers, wipes – whatever parents might need,” she said. “And it doubles as a breastfeeding room.

The final area, and Brittany said is typically the most exciting space in the office, is the prize wall.

“We are proud of the giant prize wall,” she said. “We wanted it to be like a Chuck E. Cheese, arcade-style space where we have a bunch of different shelves and a bunch of different levels of prizes. So, when patients come in, they get some tickets based on what they did that day, and they can either spend them or they can save them for a bigger prize when they come back.”

Prize items, Brittany said, include Barbies, toy race cars, stuffed animals, candy – “all the fun stuff.”

“I think that’s the best part of the appointment,” she said. “Some kids bring their tickets back, and they’re like, ‘I saved them, I have eight tickets.’ Those experiences are super cute.”

Learning as they go

Brittany said when Sweet Tooth opened, they recognized the need in the area for a pediatric-focused dental clinic, but after the first several months of operation, she said they didn’t know it was in such high demand.

“Obviously, I know there are not too many pediatric dentists around in Central Wisconsin, but the amount of patients we have seen has been way above my expectations – which is wonderful,” she said. “Also surprising is how many parents and kids will drive from 40 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half away. We have a kid coming in next week who lives two and a half hours away.”

That is something Brittany said the team wasn’t necessarily expecting.

“I think another thing that was surprising to us was how many word-of-mouth recommendations we’ve been receiving,” she said. “It’s satisfying because it feels like we’re doing something right.”

Brittany said opening a business is scary, but the positive response the clinic has been receiving so far makes the leap a little less nerve-racking. 

“Once we started getting the ‘oh, I’ve heard of you guys, you’re doing great things’ comments, then we know we’re doing something right and that helps,” she said.

For more information on Sweet Teeth Dentistry, visit sweettoothkidsdentistry.com or visit the clinic on Facebook.